This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2002-8757, filed Feb. 19, 2002, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus to fabricate a photosensitive drum for an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus to fabricate a photosensitive drum for an image forming apparatus used in a printer, and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an electrophotographic printer such as a laser printer forms a latent electrostatic image on a photosensitive medium, develops the latent electrostatic image with a toner having a predetermined color, and transfers the developed toner image to a printing paper in order to obtain a desired image. The photosensitive medium is typically a photosensitive belt or a photosensitive drum.
FIG. 1 is a view of a portion of an image forming apparatus using a typical photosensitive belt as a photosensitive medium. Referring to FIG. 1, the rotation path of a photosensitive belt 10 that travels a continuous path due to rollers 10a, 10b, and 10c includes an eraser 12, a charger 14, a laser scanning unit (LSU) 16, and a plurality of developing units 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d. The eraser 12 erases charges on the photosensitive belt 10. The charger 14 charges the photosensitive belt 10 with a predetermined electric potential. The LSU 16 radiates light onto the photosensitive belt 10 to form a latent electrostatic image. The plurality of developing units 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d are disposed in series along the travel direction of the photosensitive belt 10 and each develops the latent electrostatic image as a toner image with a different color. The developed toner image is transferred to a transfer belt 20 that circulates in contact with the photosensitive belt 10.
However, in the above-described transfer method, the photosensitive belt 10 may move laterally outside of a transfer range of an image. Thus, a steering unit (not shown) is needed to adjust the photosensitive belt 10.
FIG. 2 is a view of a portion of an image forming apparatus using a photosensitive drum as a photosensitive medium to solve the problems caused by the use of a photosensitive belt. Elements that are the same as those in FIG. 1 are described with the same numerals, and thus their detailed descriptions are omitted.
Referring to FIG. 2, instead of the photosensitive belt 10 of FIG. 1, a large-sized photosensitive drum 30 is used. Thus, the steering unit is not needed. However, a different problem occurr s in the manufacture of the photosensitive drum 30. When the small-sized photosensitive drum 30 having a diameter of 25-32 mm is manufactured, a small-sized rotary drum having a diameter of 25-32 mm is dipped in a container containing a photosensitive solution to form a photosensitive layer on the surface of the rotary drum. In this case, a plurality of small-sized rotary drums are manufactured at the same time, and thus manufacturing costs are low. However, since the photosensitive drum 30 uses a large-sized rotary drum having a diameter of about 150 mm, it is difficult to dip multiple rotary drums in the container containing the photosensitive solution. Also, it is expensive to manufacture the photosensitive drum 30.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus to fabricate a photosensitive drum for an image forming apparatus where a photosensitive belt can easily be wound on a rotary drum, and a method thereof.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a apparatus to fabricate a photosensitive drum having a photosensitive belt and a double-sided tape for an image forming apparatus, the apparatus to fabricate including a photosensitive belt supply roll to supply the photosensitive belt; a double-sided tape supply roll to supply the double-sided tape; a bonding unit to bond the photosensitive belt and the double-sided tape together; a cutting unit to cut the bonded photosensitive belt and double-sided tape at a predetermined length to form a double-sided tape cover; a rotating unit to rotate the cut photosensitive belt and double-sided tape around the rotary drum having a predetermined size; and a winding unit to wind the double-sided tape cover to thereby separate the double-sided tape cover from the photosensitive belt and the double-sided tape.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the rotating unit includes a plurality of supporting rollers to rotate underneath the rotary drum to support the rotary drum; a press roller to press the rotary drum, the rotary drum being interposed between the press roller and the supporting rollers and being rotated to rotate the rotary drum, the press roller having a shaft; a pressing unit to push the press roller against the rotary drum, the pressing unit including a connection member connected to the shaft of the press roller; and a moving unit to move the press roller towards and away from the rotary drum to provide a space to load and unload the rotary drum on the supporting rollers.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the pressing unit is a compression spring to press the connection member connected to the shaft of the press roller downward.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the vertical moving unit is a pneumatic cylinder or an electric cylinder.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the cutting unit includes a plate to provide a path of the bonded photosensitive belt and double-sided tape; a cutter to cut the bonded photosensitive belt and double-sided tape on the plate; and a cutter-driving unit to move the cutter downward after a predetermined time to separate the photosensitive belt and the double-sided tape from the double-sided tape cover.
The winding unit may include a winding roll to wind the double-sided tape cover, and a motor to rotate the wind roll, and the number of rotations of the motor is controlled.
The foregoing and other advantages of the present invention are also achieved by providing a method of fabricating a photosensitive drum for an image forming apparatus, the method including supplying a photosensitive belt and a double-sided tape, respectively; bonding the supplied photosensitive belt and the double-sided tape together; cutting the bonded photosensitive belt and double-sided tape from a double-sided tape cover, at a predetermined length; pressing and rotating the cut photosensitive belt and double-sided tape on a rotary drum having a predetermined size; and winding the double-sided tape cover which is separated from the photosensitive belt and the double-sided tape.